Police are not treating Shirebrook house fire as suspicious

Police have confirmed that they are not treating a house fire as suspicious after the property was badly damaged over the weekend.

Shocked residents told of their relief that no one was seriously injured after a blaze erupted at the home on a row of terraced properties off Sookholme Road, Shirebrook, about 1.45am, on Saturday, August 2.

And Derbyshire Constabulary confirmed this morning, Monday, August 4, that the incident is not being treated as suspicious.

A police spokesman said: “An investigation was launched in connection with the fire service. The fire is not being treated as suspicious. We are ruling out suspicious circumstances.

“The investigation has concluded that the fire involved an unknown ignition.”

Firefighters battled the blaze into the early hours but stated that no one is believed to have been seriously injured.

Neighbour Marek Ciscon said: “I was in the kitchen and I heard something like a bang.

“I could see the fire at the back of a nearby house from my back downstairs’ window.

“I knocked on another neighbour’s door and woke them in case the blaze was going to spread.

“Everybody came out in the street and we had to stay outside for about an hour-and-a-half before it was all made safe.”

Firefighters from Bolsover, Shirebrook and Nottingham’s Warsop stations were originally called out to the blaze which is believed to have started in a first floor bedroom.

Crews armed with hose reel jets, a ladder and breathing apparatus extinguished the fire and made the property safe.

A Derbyshire fire service spokesman said: “All persons involved in the blaze were accounted for and properties on either side of the house concerned were evacuated as a precaution in case the fire spread.”

Police were put on duty at the front and back of the property as they prepared to launch an investigation with the fire service to establish an exact cause. An ambulance also attended the fire as a precaution.

Nearby neighbour Sam Edge said: “We were woken up in the early hours of the morning. There was a concern that the fire might have been caused by gas.

“So we got our children out and weren’t allowed back in until about 5am so everyone is very tried this morning. We have relatives nearby so we were able to leave the children with them.

“We don’t know the full circumstances, but everybody seems to be fine. I don’t think anyone’s been badly injured and that’s the main thing.”

The house suffered extensive fire and smoke damage to the front and back as well as upstairs and downstairs.